Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show Is Quite an Experience

Los Angeles, CA, February 2, 2009 -- The Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show (latimestravelshow.com) is an experience in itself, offering attendees scuba lessons, rock climbing, a ropes course and the chance to ride a zip line over the show floor. During the weekend of February 14th and 15th, the Los Angeles Convention Center will host more than 550 exhibitors with travel-themed activities, expert advice, and special discounts. Take a mini trip around the world, complete with exotic cuisine and international entertainment, all in Downtown L.A.

“Every attendee will be thrilled with the range of activities at this year’s Travel & Adventure Show,” says John Golicz, CEO of Unicomm, co-producers of the event. “With the move to our new and larger venue, we’ve expanded the variety of exhibitors and experiences, such as adding the World Culinary Stage, which is reflective of the changing face of travel.”

Activities at the February 14th & 15th weekend event include:
• Scuba lessons from Scuba Tour and beadiver.com: attendees over age 10 need only bring a bathing suit to try the underwater scooter and MP3 player in the 4’ deep pool, plus they’ll receive a souvenir photo and a CD-ROM
• 25’ rock climbing wall from Tenaya Lodge and Yosemite: experienced professionals will help guide climbers through a variety of routes and degrees of difficulty
• Ropes course and zip line: adventure-seekers can enjoy the great indoors with a challenging ropes course and then celebrate with a zip line ride above the show floor
• Cooking demonstrations at the World Culinary Stage from the Louisiana Office of Tourism: Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen’s Darrin Finkel, Angeli Caffe’s Evan Kleiman and Loteria Grill’s Jimmy Shaw will prepare signature dishes and share their tasty secrets with the audience
• International entertainment at the Global Beat Stage: dancers from Hawaii, India, Ireland, the Philippines and Tanzania; musicians from West Africa and the U.S. Virgin Islands and more will transport show-goers with enchanting rhythms

The Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show is presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California and The Greek National Tourist Office; Samy’s Camera is the Major Sponsor; Louisiana Office of Tourism is the Presenting Sponsor of the Culinary Stage DineLA; National Geographic ADVENTURE Magazine, the Travel Channel, Hoy and KTLA5CW are Media Sponsors. The event is co-produced by Unicomm, LLC and the Los Angeles Times. For more details and a complete schedule, visit latimestravelshow.com or call (800) LA TIMES, ext. 7SHOW.

Show Information:

Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show
Adults $10 at the door, $8 online; children 16 and under free when accompanied by an adult
February 14 & 15, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
(Trade hours 8:00-10:00 a.m., Saturday only)
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 S. Figueroa St., West Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90015
1.800.LA.TIMES, ext. 7SHOW (1.800.528.4637, ext. 77469)
latimestravelshow.com

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About the Los Angeles Times:

The Pulitzer Prize winning Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 2 million, and 3 million on Sunday. The Times has been covering Southern California for 127 years and reaches a combined print and interactive local weekly audience of 4.5 million. The fast-growing latimes.com now draws 10 million unique visitors monthly.

The Los Angeles Times (latimes.com) is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 2 million and 3 million on Sunday, and a combined print and interactive local weekly audience of 5.5 million. The fast-growing latimes.com draws over 10 million unique visitors monthly. The Los Angeles Times and its media businesses and affiliates – including The Envelope, Metromix, Times Community Newspapers, Hoy, and California Community News – reach approximately 5.3 million or 40% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times has been covering Southern California for more than 127 years and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country’s leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting. Additional information is available at latimes.com/mediacenter.

About Unicomm:

Unicomm’s Adventures in Travel Expos are the world’s largest active and adventure travel shows for the trade and consumers. In 2009, ATEs will be presented in five U.S. cities: Chicago, January 10-11; Los Angeles, February 14-15; Washington, DC, February 21-22. New York City, October 10-11; Seattle, December 5-6. ATEs highlight responsible, experiential, active, adventurous, cultural and heritage travel with exhibitors, presentations, hands-on adventure experiences and cultural performances. For more information, visit the Adventures in Travel Expo website at adventureexpo.com.

Contact:
Hillary Manning (213) 237-2664 hillary.manning@latimes.com